fakes on ebay- Headin' Home

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Posted By: leon

I am almost reluctant to post this as I have been accused by a few individuals of saying things so others won't bid on cards. I think that is idiotic but I guess gossip gets like that. On that point, when asked, no one has ever told the name of 1 person that didn't bid on a card, that I won, and didn't bid because of something I said. Not one. I think they are just outright lies.

I got large scans of these cards and they look very grainy to me. Not at all like the 5 I have, that are real photo type cards. I have warned the underbidders and Dan M. agrees with me, after seeing the larger, privately sent scans. The photo's on the cards definitely shouldn't be that grainy. I have seen about 20 of these types of cards and never any like these. You won't see me bidding on these....I advised the seller why I thought they were fakes too...and some weird bidding is happening on them to boot....

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/1920-Babe-Ruth-Headin-Home-Set-of-4-Cards-VERY-RARE_W0QQitemZ260039393022QQihZ016QQcategoryZ31719 QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem</a" target="_new">http://cgi.ebay.com/1920-Babe-Ruth-Headin-Home-Set-of-4-Cards-VERY-RARE_W0QQitemZ260039393022QQihZ016QQcategoryZ31719 QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem</a&gt;



edited typo

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Posted By: steve f

I'm not familiar to that issue, but have been watching. Thanks for the headsup.

Hope you don't mind boss, There is also a fake T206 Cobby (green) on eBay without the usual, deceptive disclaimer. This 'aged' counterfeit may not be as obvious to the newer readers;


Note the text difference, not just the portrait's shading and grainy appearance.

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Posted By: leon

No worries....alerting folks to good fakes (not every T206 Wagner or colorized Fro Joy) is part of the good of this board. I do want to mention I am only 95% sure the Headin Home cards are bad. If the seller would have guaranteed them I might have bid, as there would have been no risk....but he won't and I am not. I would bet a lunch they aren't real.....

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Posted By: barrysloate

The brown one looks a little more real than the two blue ones, but can you have a group half real, half bad? Probably not.

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Posted By: leon

The brown one is one of mine and I am sure it's real....The blue ones are in the auction and I question their legitimacy....I used the brown one for comparison. My other 4 are brown like that too...

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Posted By: barrysloate

Sorry Leon- didn't read your text too carefully, but at least I proved I can tell a real one from a fake!

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Posted By: Jason L

sorry, I couldn't resist that poor attempt for some reason (punchy on Friday)

Steve F,
Thanks for the Cobb comparison...certainly see the font type difference, but I have a question for you/the Board: Is there any type of aging or damage (water, etc) that might make a real card look like that fake? meaning, is there any known reason for a legit card to look more grainy or have its appearance changed like that? prolly not, but always good to ask...
thanks
Jason L

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Posted By: barrysloate

One of the most common ways fake cards are made to look real is by some sort of artificial aging- either staining or baking until the card looks brown. Artificial is a good term for it, because to the trained eye it never looks quite right. It's tough to explain precisely, it's just something that intuitively looks wrong with it.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

Some damage will make a card's stock look different. It is basic paper chemistry. The paper in cards is made of wood pulp. Wood pulp naturally contains acids. Over time, the acids in the wood pulp age and alter the feel and color of the paper. Certain environmental conditions (like sunlight, moisture, etc.) can exacerbate the deterioration of the paper. I have cards that feel very different than other cards from the same set because they've been affected by bad environmental conditions. I have some 1960's cards that are more age toned than my T206's. Why? The quality of board used and the way it is processed, plus the way it is handled and stored. Certain sets brown so badly that they don't even look or feel like they did when issued. I have a near set of 1946 boxing cards that was issued on a low-grade thin chipboard (like a strip card) and it ages very badly. The aging is the best way to separate the original cards from the later reprints of the set; they look and feel totally different. Ditto strip cards.

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Posted By: T E

If they had been faking cards when I was a kid, the best way to stress a fake card to make it look aged would have been to give it to me for a week. After one week in my posession back then, any card would be scuffed, scraped and played with. No Gem Mint 10s ever came from my collection back then!

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Posted By: Brian

While I have seen the vertical version of that Ruth "Headin Home" card, I have never seen a horizontal version. Is this version especially rare?

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Posted By: leon

I don't have any horizontal poses and do believe they are more scarce. All of these cards are so scarce I would not place a premium on them though. regards

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Posted By: fkw

The thing I picked up on them the first day was the size is larger than any of the know style cards. Also the blue tint is not seen as far as I know. I wrote the seller the first day and pointed out the problems and told him they should be actual photos. I never heard back. With the way I worded the email, I would have thought he would have came back with a reply. I believe he knows they are fakes. Oh well, its a $2000+ leason to someone.